Shoe welt



July 10, 1956 1.. WITHINGTON, JR

SHOE WELT Filed Feb. 3, 1954 Fig. I

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A E v mi 4 B I 2 A5 a A m A \&\ M. I? 2 A A m 31 m; g 24 W MUEF'IITORNEYS United States Patent SHOE WELT Lothrop Withington, Jr., Brookline, Mass., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Shoe Patents Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 3, 1954, Serial No. 407,883

2 Claims. (Cl. 36-78) This invention relates to shoe welts and more particularly to Goodyear welts having tall upstanding beads.

Many types of beads have hitherto been employed on welts for Goodyear shoes. In general, however, the heads have been relatively low and have been located in the corner between the welt and the upper. When in that position, the bead of the welt serves a useful purpose in improving the water resistance, as well as the appearance of the shoe, but it does not provide certain distinct and hitherto unrecognized advantages in the construction of the shoe. I have found that a tall upstanding bead which covers a major portion of the side wall of the upper is highly desirable. In the first place such a tall upstanding bead makes it more difficult for water to get up over the welt, and also presents a wider surface area of contact where water resistance material may be inserted in the prevention of the seepage of water down between the welt and the upper. Secondly, a tall upstanding bead makes it possible to effect a considerable saving in upper leather because such a welt hides or protects blemishes in the marginal portions of the upper material. Thirdly, such a tall upstanding bead which hugs the upper tightly assists greatly in maintaining the side wall of the shoe against bulging or changing shape during periods of extended use.

While it is advantageous for these and other reasons to have a welt using a tall upstanding bead, previous attempts to provide the same have not been successful for a number of reasons. In the first place, a tall bead of leather is incapable of hugging the upper and previous attempts to reinforce leather for this purpose have not been satisfactory. Certain types of plastic resin have been employed for this purpose, but here again substantial obstacles were encountered, and the result has not been commercially satisfactory. One of the principal drawbacks in connection with previous applications of plastic in the form of a welt with a tall upstanding bead has been the fact that the pressure of the upper against the bead was transmitted to the outsole attaching flange causing it to cup drastically, and therefore, to interferewith the outsole attaching operation.

Therefore, it is an object of my invention to provide a welt for a Goodyear shoe having a tall upstanding bead which will hug the upper, and in conjunction therewith, an outsole attaching portion which, when the welt is secured to the shoe by the inseaming operation, will lie out flat.

In the accomplishment of this and other objects of my invention in a preferred embodiment thereof, I employ a plastic substance having the characteristics of plasticized polymerized vinyl chloride, and I extrude the same in a special cross section which includes a tall upstanding bead, an outsole attaching flange, an inseam attaching member and a body portion connecting the inseam attaching member to the flange and bead. The inseam attaching member is stitched to the inseam rib of a Goodyear welt shoe and assumes a substantially vertical position, being held in that position by substantially equal forces acting on the inseam attaching member and body portion below and above the stitch line respectively. The welt is so designed that when it is stitched, the tall upstanding bead is pushed around by contact against the shoe upper and in so doing it pushes the outsole attaching flange around to a substantially horizontal position. It is a feature of my invention that, due to the flexibility of the body portion, the forces acting through the base of the bead against the outsole attaching flange are substantially independent of the forces acting on the inseam attaching portion and exist predominantly above the line of stitches.

Further objects and features of my invention will best be understood and appreciated from a detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is an end view in perspective of the welt of my invention prior to incorporation into a shoe; and

Fig. 2 is a view in cross section of the welt of my invention after the inseaming operation, showing in dotted lines, first the initial position of the welt as related to the inseam attaching member, and secondly, the initial position of the bead relative to the outsole attaching portion in its final horizontal resting place.

The preferred embodiment of my invention herein shown includes an outsole attaching flange 10, a tall upstanding bead 12 which extends upward around the upper of a shoe covering a substantial portion of the side wall thereof, an inseam attaching member 14 and a body portion 16 connecting the inseam attaching member 14 to the flange 10 and bead 12. An open stitch-receiving groove 17 remains between the inseam attaching member 14 and the flange 10.

The substance employed in the production of the welt of my invention is preferably unvulcanized plasticized polymerized vinyl chloride or its equivalent, and this substance has a characteristic of cold flow which is advantageous in that it permits the stitches to achieve a state of equilibrium of tension in the finished shoe and also permits a certain amount of distorition of the welt without adverse effect. On the other hand, the substance retains a definite degree of elasticity which is likewise desirable because it maintains the bead of the welt in close contact with the upper of the shoe even when the shoe is flexed and also permits the welt to hug close to the stitches and render the composite structure more waterproof.

In Fig. 1, I have shown the welt of my invention as it appears in cross section after extrusion. The flange 10 is roughly horizontal and the bead 12 extends upwardly from the inner side thereof while the body portion 16 and the inseam attaching member 14 extend downward- 1y therefrom at an oblique angle. The position of these elements in Fig. 1, however, should be regarded as leaning to one side because when incorporated into a shoe, as is shown in Fig. 2, the body portion 16 and inseam attaching member 14 actually assume a vertical position with a stitch 18 holding the inseam attaching member 14 to an insole rib 20 and upper 22. In this position, the forces of compression acting along the arrows A-A are substantially in balance and hold the inseam attaching member 14 and body portion 16 substantially vertical. However, during the inseaming operation, the upper 22 contacts the head 12 and pushes: it around to a substantially vertical position with the resilient body portion 16 bending to accommodate the new position of the head 12. The head, in turn, pushes the outsole attaching flange 10 downward to a substantially horizontal position by forces of compression acting along the arrow B. While it is recognized that certain minor forces caused by the dislocation of the bead 12 do act upon the stitch 18, it is important to note that the predominant. effect of. outwardly flexing the head 12 is to bring the flange 10 to a horizontal position and this compression only very slightly affects the balance of forces acting along the arrows AA. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 farthest" to the left show that the outward bending of the-bead 1 2 and flange 10 during inseaming takes-place almost entirely inthefl'ex-ible body portion 16 and results in substantially closing upthe stitch-receiving groove 1:72. However, since the lower portion of the flange 10) is, not in compression against the inseam attaching member 14, it does not adversely affect the balance of forces along the arrows A-A-. It shouldbe noted, however, that incertain circumstances thecontour' of a shoe may require a greater outward bending of the bead 12, and under those circumstances the flange 10 will come up against the inseam attaching portion 14' and thereafter bet-prevented from further dislocation which would tend tomake the flange cup. The intermediate dotted lines indicatedat 24 in Fig. 2 are included merely to show thatin the finished shoe, the angle between the head 12 and the fl'an'ge 10 issmaller than the initial angle between the two; This latter dislocation is the source of compressionalong the arrow B.

It will now be seen that the welt of my invention com.- prises a' tall} upstanding bea'd' 12 and that the forces acting. thereon cause the bead 12 to hug the upper tightly. Furthermore these forces likewise causev the flange 10- to. lie out flat and facilitate further manufacture of. the shoe avoiding the, conventional beating down. operation. The inseam attaclu'ng member 14 is; oval in cross section. and disposed with its major axis inclined) downwardlyandin divergent relation. to the outsole attaching flange.

One of the outstanding characteristics of the welt of my invention is that it-' employs" the" forces herein described in causing the head to hug the upper at the same time as causing the flange 10 to lie out horizontally without substantially influencing the balance of forces acting along the arrows AA. Therefore, it is not my intention to confine my invention, to. the precise form herein shown, but rather to define it in terms of the appended claims.

Having; thus describech anddisclosed a preferned embodiment oh my invention, what I: claim: as new and desire to secure by; Letters; Patent is:

1. A shoe welt comprising. an outsole. attaching flange, a tall upstanding bead integral with said 'fl'ange along one margin thereof, an inseamattaching. nrember, a flexible and resilient body portion connecting said inseam attaching member to said flange and bead, said body portion and inseam attaching member being normally vertical andsaid head and flange normal'y' extending upwardly therefrom obliquely one to each side of" the vertical.

2. A shoe welt as defined in claim 1 in which the inseam attaching member is oval' in cross section and disposed with its major axis inclined downwardly and in divergent relation to the outsole attaching flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,201,382 Vizard May 21, 1940" 2,275,574 Vizard Mar I0, I942. 2,403,750 Quimet July 9, 1946 2,438,095 Phinney Mar. 1.6, 19 48 2,448,165 Wright Aug; 3-1, 1948 2,563,638. Batchelder et al. Aug.. 7',v 1951 

